Factors hindering career advancement for woman in Maldives / Haleemath Aroosha

Introduction
Ladies if we want to rule the world or even gain an equitable share of leadership positions we need to stop leaning in. Its killing us. We need to fight for our right to lean back and put our feet up. Rosa Brooks

Over the years there has been an increase in endeavours to enrich the status given to women, especially in the employment area. With many international organisations working towards the equality of men and women in organisations, the numbers of leaders and women in the managerial positions have increased. However, it should be noted that women still face a significant number of barriers in climbing up the hierarchy within their organisations (Tlaiss & Kauser, 2010).

Compared to past generations, women have been entering the workforce at a steady rate and has become a significant research area. In addition, organisations are changing the programs and implementing rules that are in support of womens career advancements. Governments and law enforcement bodies are passing regulations that support working mothers to build a fair, diverse workplace and fight against discrimination (Allen, French & Poteet, 2016). Most of the research done on this topic areas cover the factors that lead to success of women entrepreneurs, influence of family and society on the women job roles and how the work environment can have an impact on how they succeed in life. Aside from researchers, organisations who work toward women empowerment give career advice and try to reduce the barriers that women face in work life.

However, with the popularity of this topic and awareness created, it seems that women are still not seen as great "leaders". For instance, some expect women to be more self confident and show it in the work place but are judged for not behaving like how a woman should be. There are societal based gender norms that a female leader should behave differently than a male leader (Mcllonagh, 2010). When a leader is described automatically a male role model is taken as an example. These gender-biased views have created a negative environment where women are unable to show their leadership without being labelled as "bossy" or "too emotional".

Researchers mainly associate the phrase glass ceiling when describing the challenges women faces in their career progressions. Glass ceiling states that woman can go up to a certain limit in the organisational ladder, due to which men dominate the upper roles (Barreto, Ryan & Schmitt, 2009). There are various factors that created this underrepresentation of women in organisations such as cultural misbeliefs, organisational structures and lack of mentoring. Tlaiss & Kauser (2010) identified that the work culture and the attitude within the organisation significantly affects the chances for women getting promotions causing high levels of discrimination.

However, it was highlighted that most of the research done on this topic was based on Western and European perspectives which created a need to investigate other cultures such as Asian perception (Tlaiss & Kauser, 2010). In addition, these researches focus on the gender stereotyping that is originated mainly from the cultural and societal beliefs. A study done by Jogulu & Wood (2011) compared the diversity of Malaysia and Australia in relation to gender inequality stating that the barriers of career advancements for women differ based on culture specific traditions.

A survey conducted by Asian Development Bank (2014) reported that in Maldives, there is a significant income gap between male and female workers even in the industries where women are dominant. Moreover, it was found that women are underrepresented in senior posts with most of them being clustered in middle levels of management. However, there is less sound evidence of the factors creating such an income gap and discrimination. Therefore, this research aims to identify the specific barriers that hinder this underrepresentation.